


Rosalind

by marie_1644



Category: The Maze Runner Series - All Media Types, The Maze Runner Series - James Dashner
Genre: Angst, Book/Movie 1: The Maze Runner, F/M, Fluff, Pre-Canon, Pre-The Maze Runner, Slow Burn, Strong Female Characters, Tension
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-14
Updated: 2021-01-12
Packaged: 2021-03-11 02:08:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,406
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28057386
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/marie_1644/pseuds/marie_1644
Summary: When Rosalind arrives in the Glade, she has no clue who she is or why she was randomly deposited into a Maze with a bunch of teenage boys. Despite this, she becomes accustomed to their strange situation and manages to weasel her way into their lives. However, when a boy named Thomas arrives, everything changes, and there may be hope for their escape from this hell. (Yes, this is another self-indulgent "girl in the Glade" fic. Oops :)
Relationships: Newt (Maze Runner)/Original Female Character(s)
Kudos: 12





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> This story is of my own creation, and anything that resembles other stories is purely accidental.

When she woke up, the first thing she noticed was the smell.

  
Everything was dark, and she could barely see what surrounded her in that tiny metal cage. But it smelled like metal and a wet dog.

  
The second was how _goddamn loud_ it was.

  
She figured she must be on some sort of elevator because her metal cage was rising through the tunnel, scraping metal upon metal. To her right, some kind of crate was rattling, making the pig inside squeal like its life depended on it. Some kind of metal objects were clanging around nearby. All of the noise made her head throb as if her brain was pulsing inside of her skull. She could almost picture it oozing strange liquids as it pounded against her forehead.

  
Her head.

  
Her _memories_.

  
She scrambled into a sitting position, pushing herself against the side of the cage despite the noise. Her chest tightened as if someone had reached inside and grabbed her lungs, twisting them into a knot between her ribcage. As she gasped for breath, she frantically searched her brain for some remnant of her past.

  
_Rosalind_.

  
Hot tears slipped from her eyes as she tried to imagine someone calling her by that name. Surely someone must have at some point (a parent? sibling? friend?) but she could not remember.

  
“Fat lot of good that does,” she yelled, her voice hoarse from disuse. “I’m stuck in a metal cage of death and all I can remember is my name?”

  
No one answered.

  
The cage continued rattling upwards, still scraping against the sides of the walls. The pig kept screaming.

  
_Fine,_ Rosalind thought. _I guess I’ll have to fix this myself._

  
Her hands were still shaking as she pulled herself off of the floor. She clutched them to her chest, trying desperately to control her breathing. She glanced upwards in hopes of seeing a destination. All she could make out through the darkness was, well, more darkness. There were small lights on the sides of the shaft, but they barely illuminated the metal box enough for Rosalind to see. Instead, she carefully shuffled towards the cage that held the pig.

  
The pig was ramming itself against the sides of its cage. In spite of herself, Rosalind felt the prick of tears in her eyes as she knelt down in front of the cage.

  
“It’s okay,” she whispered, peering through the bars. “I’m scared too.”

  
_And apparently losing my mind,_ she thought. _You’re stuck in this terrifying metal box with no memories, and you’re feeling sorry for the pig?_

  
She reached out for the metal tools on top of the cage, hoping that she wasn’t going to grab anything sharp. To her relief, her fingers closed over what seemed to be handles. She picked them up and carefully examined them in the brief flashes of light that she caught from the elevator shaft. Most of them were gardening tools. But as she set down a spade, she noticed a small knife on the bottom of the stack. She shoved the other tools away and examined the knife closely. The edges were smooth, but she was sure that she would slice her hand open if she attempted to run her finger along it.

  
With a bit more exploring, she found a few scrap pieces of fabric resting inside a wooden crate. She carefully wrapped the knife in one and then slipped it into her boot.

  
_Just in case._

  
As she moved to investigate the crate even further, the metal box came to a sudden halt, throwing Rosalind against the wall. She groaned, reaching back to grab the shoulder that had hit the metal. Suddenly, she heard noises coming from above her. Whatever ceiling was covering her was being opened. Without thinking, she threw herself into a corner and crouched down, hoping to hide from whatever was coming for her.

  
The light shocked her.

  
She ducked her head down between her knees, eyes burning from the sudden sunlight. She could hear voices floating into her box, but she didn’t dare lift her head to see who they belonged to. There was a loud thud, as if someone had just jumped into the box.

  
“Alright Greenie,” a loud voice said. “Where are ya?”

  
Rosalind held her breath, hoping that whoever it was would just go away and leave her alone.

  
She was not so lucky.

  
A hand grabbed her hair and pulled her face up. She yelped and immediately hit the boy’s hand away. She turned her head up to glare at the intruder.

  
The boy had brown skin and a headful of dark black hair. He seemed to be well built, and she automatically knew that she couldn’t best him in a fight. But what surprised her the most was the pure shock that crossed his face as he stared at her.

  
“You’re a girl,” he said, dumbfounded.

  
Rosalind just glared at him.

  
“A girl?” an unseen voice exclaimed.

  
Immediately, she could hear voices echoing the sentiment. She stayed silent.

  
“Come on, Greenie,” the boy said, pulling her up on to her feet. “Let’s get you out of this box.”

  
For a moment, Rosalind hesitated. The box may have been terrifying, but she had no clue what was waiting for her outside. And she couldn’t remember a damn thing to help her. But above her, she could see the sun shining and could smell the sweet grass.

  
_Only way to go is up,_ she concluded.

  
She ignored the hand that the boy offered her and pulled herself out of the box, wanting nothing more than to collapse on the grass and stay there for a few hours. But a voice caught her attention.

  
“Hey, she’s kinda shuckin’ hot.”

  
Her whole body froze for a moment as she listened to the other voices laugh and agree. She could almost imagine them elbowing each other, though she could only see their feet. An intense anger flooded her body, but she swallowed it.

  
She pushed herself off the ground and stumbled into an opening in their group. They had surrounded her when she had pulled herself out of the box, but now she could keep an eye on every single one of them.

  
As she glanced around, her heart sank.

  
All of them were boys.

  
Teenage boys, of various ages. Her heart crushed like a soda can.

  
_This has to be some kind of a sick joke._

  
They were all staring at her expectantly, most of them with stupid grins on their faces. The boy that had jumped into the box was standing in front of her with another boy with dark skin. They seemed to be older and in charge. Questions bubbled up in her chest, threatening to spill like a pot of boiling water, but she forced them down. Instead, she straightened her spine and crossed her arms, glaring at the two boys in front of her.

  
Behind them, she saw a hint of a smile flash across a blonde boy’s face.

  
“Hey Greenie, we’re not gonna hurt ya,” said the first boy that she had met. “My name is Nick, and this is your new home.”

  
Her throat went dry.

  
When she still didn’t answer, Nick glanced at the boy next to him. He nodded and then stepped forward, holding out his hand.

  
“My name’s Alby.”

  
It seemed as though the entire group of boys was holding their breath, waiting to see how she would react. She stayed silent, hoping that if she didn’t say a word that they would let her go. Alby dropped his hand, rolling his eyes in annoyance.

  
“The shank won’t even say anything, Nick,” he complained, gesturing at Rosalind. Around them, the boys snickered to each other. This time, she didn’t have to imagine them elbowing each other.

  
She lifted her chin, hoping that she looked braver than she felt. That didn’t last long.

  
“Come here, shank,” a strange boy muttered, walking towards her purposefully.

  
Before she could stop herself, she took a step backwards. Alby grabbed the boy by the arm.

  
“She’s not gonna say anything, Gally,” he said.

  
Nick tilted his head slightly as her stared at her.

  
“Do you remember your name, Greenie?”

  
She hesitated before nodding slightly.

  
“What is it?”

  
She kept her mouth shut. She knew that the boys were becoming frustrated with her, but she was terrified. And her instincts told her to stay quiet.

  
“Oh, for shuck’s sake, Greenie-“

  
Nick was cut off by the blonde boy that Rosalind had noticed. He stepped forward and lightly punched Nick in the arm.

  
“Maybe you should give her some buggin’ space instead of yellin’ at her like she’s a bloody dog,” he said.

  
His accent was different.

  
“She won’t say anything, Newt,” said Nick, shooting her an angry glare. “And I wanna know what the Creators think they’re doing by sending us a girl.”

  
_Creators?_

  
The blonde boy – Newt – rolled his eyes at Nick.

  
“Well, I doubt she’ll have the bloody answer to that.”

  
Nick, Alby, and Newt all looked at her. She could feel the stares of the other boys as they watched her. Some of them muttered to each other. Her face felt warm, but she stood her ground.

  
“Clear outta here, you dumb shanks,” Nick finally said, shooing the other boys away. “Give the Greenbean some space.”

  
The boys walked away, glaring at their leader and whispering about her. She could feel them glancing back at her as they left, but she kept her gaze on the boys in front of her.  
This time, Nick shoved Newt in her direction, a teasing grin on his face.

  
“Alright shank, let’s see if you can do any better at the sweet talking.”

  
Newt rolled his eyes good naturedly and stepped forward slowly. Rosalind was proud of herself for not stepping away this time although she had a feeling it was because Newt had a kind look in his eyes. He, like most of the boys she had seen, was taller than her by several inches, but he had a thin, wiry frame. He approached her as if she was a scared animal, which, she supposed, she was.

  
“My name is Newt,” he said, using a softer tone than he had previously. “Any chance you’ll tell me yours?”

  
Rosalind shook her head defiantly, wishing that these strange boys would just _stop_ asking her questions. She was fairly sure that she had more questions than they did, but she had no intentions of admitting that.

  
“That’s alright,” Newt replied gently, seemingly unphased by her silence. “How about we get you settled in somewhere and ask questions later?”

  
Rosalind had never heard a better idea. She nodded quickly, hoping he didn’t realize how relieved she was.

  
“Come on then, Greenie,” sighed Nick. “But I want some answers from you.”

  
Rosalind followed them towards a dilapidated shack made out of wood. Her eyes darted around as she tried to take in as much of her surroundings as she could. To her right, a large pen housed a few goats and chickens. Another pen held the pigs, and she could see several boys releasing the pig that she had traveled with into the mud. Somewhere up ahead, she could see what appeared to be a garden. Several boys were working in the fields. One of them gave their group a friendly wave that Nick returned.

  
As she was following the three boys, she could hear them muttering about her. She could only catch snippets of what they were saying, but she knew that they were concerned that the Creators – whoever they are – had sent up a girl. She rolled her eyes at them, tempted to break her avowed silence and tell them that she was no different from the rest of them. But something caught her attention and made her stop in her tracks.

  
For whatever reason, she hadn’t noticed that she was completely surrounded by walls. Everywhere she looked, she saw huge gray walls enclosing them in the field. Each wall was covered in long strands of ivy. Her breath caught in her throat as she frantically spun around. More tears filled her eyes as she was consumed by an intense feeling of claustrophobia.

  
“Alright there, Greenbean?” Alby asked.

  
She spun back around to the three boys, realizing that they must have stopped walking when she did. She quickly blinked the tears away and swallowed the lump in her throat. The tightness in her chest wouldn’t go away though.

  
She swallowed the questions that she _desperately_ wanted to ask and gave the boys a short nod. It was better if they didn’t know how scared she was, so she forced herself to keep walking. They turned back around, but she felt Newt give her a concerned glance over his shoulder.

  
Once they passed the shack, she noticed another, smaller building on the other side. It was surrounded by wooden tables, but no one was sitting there.

  
_A kitchen,_ she realized as the smell of food wafted towards her. She tried to ignore the way her stomach twisted at the scent.

  
How long had it been since she had eaten?

  
“Hey, Frypan!” Nick called.

  
A dark-skinned boy wearing an apron leaned out of the shack and waved as they walked closer.

  
“Hey- whoa.”

  
He stared at Rosalind, his face twisted in disbelief.

  
“Is that a shuckin’ girl?” He asked, disappearing for a moment before stepping outside of the kitchen.

  
“Yeah, and she won’t say a bloody word,” chuckled Newt.

  
“Well, hey there, girlie. I’m Frypan,” he said, giving her a massive grin.

  
Rosalind couldn’t help but give him a small smile back. He seemed nice.

  
“Best cook in the Glade,” said Nick. “So if ya ever find yourself hungry, just come find Fry.”

  
She nodded.

  
“Hey, Frypan, could you give her something to eat?” Alby asked, gesturing helplessly towards the first building they had passed. “We need to have a Gathering, but I have no shuckin’ clue what to do with her.”

  
“Sure thing,” grinned Frypan, disappearing to find some food for her.

  
When he reappeared, he handed her a plate full of what appeared to be chicken, corn, and some kind of roll. It may not have been the fanciest meal, but it made her stomach grumble as soon as it was in her hands.

  
“Alright, Greenie, go find yourself somewhere to sit and don’t move until we finish the Gathering, understood?” said Alby, staring her down.

  
She nodded, noting the amused smile on Frypan’s face.

  
“Good that,” Newt said, clapping his hands. “Let’s get all of the Keepers and get this buggin’ Gathering over with.”

  
The boys dispersed, giving her slight nods or waves as they left her standing alone. In the middle of the grass. With nowhere to go. She could hear Alby and Nick yelling at people, telling them to leave her alone until after the Gathering.

  
At least she wouldn’t have to deal with anyone else.

  
She walked away from the tables and sat down with her back against a tree. She pulled her knees into her chest and rested her plate on top of them. Briefly, she wondered if the food had been poisoned.

  
_Why would they tell you to wait here if they were just going to poison you?_ She asked herself, almost shaking her head at her own fear. _Besides, Frypan seemed nice enough._

  
She had wanted to eat the food slowly, but that plan was thrown out the window as soon as she took her first bite. It was delicious, and she figured that she could think better on a full stomach anyways. Before she knew it, she was scraping the last kernels of corn off of the plate. Sighing, she set it down next to her and looked around.

  
The walls were the most terrifying part of her surroundings. Sure, she was scared of being alone with a group of teenage boys, but she figured her chances were better with them than with whatever else was out there.

  
_Are those walls keeping us in or keeping something else out?_

  
Not for the first time that day, she wished she had her memories to help her figure that answer out.

  
Rosalind could tell that night was falling because the field was starting to get darker. It had already been late afternoon when she had crawled out of the box, but now it felt even creepier as the sun slowly disappeared. The wind picked up, sending chills down her arms and legs.

  
Then she heard the most horrifying sound.

  
It sounded as if the earth itself was shifting. A loud groan filled the field, and she could hear stone scraping against metal. Her hands flew over her ears, and her head snapped in the direction of the noise. To her amazement, the gigantic walls were moving. She watched in pure fear as the gap in the walls closed with an almighty bang. The noise stopped. Rosalind scrambled to her feet.

  
And then she ran.

  
She took off into the forest that was behind her, completely ignoring the instructions she had been given. She had no clue where she was going, but at least she could be safe in there, away from the moving walls. She stumbled a bit on the uneven ground, but she kept going.

  
Her chest was still tight from the panic, and running didn’t make it any easier. Once she felt like she was deep enough in the forest, she stopped, bending over to catch her breath. It was silent, apart from the leaves rustling in the wind and her own heavy breathing. She collapsed against another tree, shaking.

  
Before she could even comprehend what was happening, loud sobs ripped from her chest. She rested her hands on her forehead, her entire body trembling. The walls had been the last straw, and now she could feel the weight of her situation resting on her chest. Hot tears streamed down her face and dripped onto her pants. She sniffled loudly, attempting to wipe some of the tears off on her sleeve.

  
Rustling in front of her made her head snap up. She peered ahead, frozen in fear.

  
_Were there wild animals in the forest? Did she just run into some creature’s den like an absolute dumbass just to escape some walls?_

  
To her immense relief, the rustling proved to be a cheerful black Labrador. He lifted his nose from the ground and looked at her, cocking his head to the right. In spite of herself, a relieved laugh bubbled out of her lips.

  
“Come here, buddy,” she called, holding a hand out to him. “I won’t hurt you.”

  
The dog crept forward and sniffed her outstretched hand. Once he had finished with her hand, he stepped even closer and shoved his nose in her face. Rosalind laughed again, ducking her head and reaching up to rub the dog’s head.

  
“What’s your name?’ she whispered, taking only a moment to appreciate the irony behind the statement.

  
The dog sat down next to her, looking more than pleased with himself for making a new friend. His tongue hung out of his mouth, making a smile crawl its way across Rosalind’s face. She wiped the remaining tears off and stared into the dog’s kind eyes. A strange sense of peace flooded through her. For a moment, she forgot about the boys and the walls.

  
But it all came flooding back when she heard shouts coming from around her. She sat up straighter, and she saw the dog’s ears perk up at the noise.

  
“Please don’t leave me,” she whispered, clinging pitifully to the dog.

  
“Hey, Newt, I found her!”

  
Her head whipped around, spotting a muscular Asian boy heading in her direction. She wanted to stand up, but the dog provided more comfort if she was seated.

  
“Hey there, Greenie,” the new boy said. “Never thought I’d see the day when we had a shuckin’ girl in the Glade.”

  
Rosalind just stared at him, not sure how to respond. Luckily, a familiar face appeared over the boy’s shoulder.

  
“Did she say anything yet, Minho?”

  
“Nah, she’s just staring at me. Not that I can blame her.”

  
Newt rolled his eyes at his friend.

  
“Made a new friend, have ya, Bark?” Newt asked, whistling softly as he crouched down.

  
At the noise, the dog left her side and bounded over to Newt, happy to receive more attention.

  
Traitor.

  
Then her eyebrows furrowed as she looked up at them.

  
“Out of all the names you could have picked, you named the dog _Bark?”_

  
The forest was still for a moment before Minho let out a gleeful laugh.

  
“She speaks!” he exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air.

  
Newt grinned at her, a small smile of her own appearing as she realized that that was the first time that she had spoken to them.

  
“Well, sorry if we’re not the most creative shanks you’ve ever met,” he replied, standing up.

  
He extended a hand to her, and she hesitantly took it. He pulled her off the ground and gave her a moment to brush the leaves off of her pants. Minho stood next to him, arms crossed over his chest and a friendly smile on his face.

  
“Any chance you’ll tell us your name now?” Newt asked.

  
This time she only hesitated for a second.

  
“Rosalind, but I think I prefer to be called Rosa.”

  
For a moment, she wondered how she knew that if she had no memories of anyone calling her by that name.

  
“Well then, come on Rosa,” said Minho, gesturing over his shoulder. “We need to get you to the Homestead for the night.”


	2. Chapter Two

“All it took was the shuckin’ dog to get her to talk?” Alby asked, glaring at Rosa.

She shrugged, smiling slightly at his anger.

“Let’s get you into bed, Greenie,” said Nick. “We’ve opened up one of the spare rooms for ya so you don’t have to sleep outside with the other boys.”

“Is there a lock on the door?” she asked, still feeling uneasy about letting her guard down.

“You’re the only shuck girl we’ve ever had, so no,” replied Alby.

Rosa felt the tension coursing through her shoulders. She desperately wanted to sleep, but she wasn’t sure how comfortable she would be in her room.

“Follow me,” called Nick, starting to walk up the stairs.

Rosa waved to Alby who just stared at her. She rolled her eyes and followed after Nick. He led her to a door on the left side of the hallway and opened it. All that was inside was a sleeping bag and a small box. One lone window carved a hole in the wall in front of her. It was the saddest looking room Rosa had ever seen.

“That box came up with you,” Nick said, gesturing vaguely toward the corner of the room that housed the box. “Looked like it had some clothes in there for ya.”

“Thanks.”

“If you need anything, just holler down the hall, ya hear me, Greenie? Alby and I both have rooms up here.”

Rosa nodded.

“Sleep tight,” smirked Nick. “Don’t let the Grievers bite.”

The _what?_

Before Rosa could ask what the hell a Griever was, Nick had shut the door behind him. She was left alone, standing in the middle of her practically empty room. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes for an instant, then got to work.

She knelt down in front of the box. Inside, she could see a couple of long-sleeved shirts, what appeared to be a black crop top, several pairs of pants, and underwear. For a moment, she considered changing into clean clothes, but then she remembered that she was still covered in dry sweat and dirt.

_You should ask about showering in the morning,_ she told herself.

Underneath the clothes was a bottle of pills. She pulled it out and examined it carefully. It was labeled “Cycle Control.” She flipped it over and read the instructions on the back.

**Take immediately upon arrival and take once a month when a new arrival comes.**

“Birth control?” she whispered to herself. “When exactly do they think I’m gonna need-“

Then it clicked.

_No periods?_ She thought to herself. _Finally, something good can come from this hellhole._

Rosa slipped one of the pills into her mouth and swallowed. She quickly put the cap back on and placed the bottle back into the box. Her eyes turned to the sleeping bag. It only took her a moment to make her decision.

She moved the box in front of the door, angling it so that if anyone tried to come in, they would trip over the box. It was like her own personal burglary alarm system. Once she was satisfied, she pulled her boots off of her feet. The knife fell out, reminding her that she at least had some form of protection. She carefully set her black boots at the end of her sleeping bag, and she placed the knife under the pillow. Slowly, she pulled her exhausted body into the sleeping bag, letting her eyes drift shut.

The next morning, she woke up to the sound of the box being knocked over.

“Oh, shuck!”

Rosa sat up at the noise, slipping a hand under her pillow to grip the knife. Her trap had worked, but her poor victim was Nick. He grabbed the shin that he seemed to have banged on the box and glared at her.

“What was that for?”

“I wanted to make sure no one snuck in here while I was asleep,” said Rosa, her voice still groggy from sleeping. “And it was clearly necessary.”

Nick rolled his eyes as he kicked the box out of the way.

“Rise and shine, Greenie. I have something to show you.”

“Is it a shower?” Rosa asked, kicking the sleeping bag off of her legs. “Because I could use one of those.”

“Not yet,” he laughed. “I’ll let ya shower after the tour.”

Rosa groaned, pulling her boots back onto her feet. When Nick was distracted by her window, she slipped her knife into her right boot, just in case.

“Why are we up so early?”

“Because no one else needs to see this.”

Rosa paused her movements, glancing up at Nick slowly.

“What are you going to do to me?”

“Relax,” he scoffed. “I’ve just gotta show you somethin’ by the walls.”

Rosa reluctantly followed Nick out of the Homestead. He led her to one of the massive walls. As he pulled the ivy off of one spot, seemingly looking for something, Rosa let her eyes wander. The light was still dim, telling her that it was _way_ too early in the morning for her. The gaps in the walls were shut, and she briefly wondered how often they opened and closed.

“Hey, c’mere,” whispered Nick, gesturing for Rosa to join him by the wall.

“Why are we whispering all of a sudden?” she asked.

“Just get your butt over here and stop asking useless questions.”

Nick was looking through what appeared to be a window in the wall. It was a grimy piece of glass, covered in fingerprints and dirt. Nevertheless, Rosa stepped forward and peered through. All she could see was more gray walls and some rocks.

Then she heard the whirring.

She turned her head slightly to see if she could see where the noise was coming from. Down the corridor, the noise grew closer and closer until she could see what was coming towards her.

It seemed to be a massive, gelatinous _– thing_.

It was the most terrifying creature she had ever encountered.

Well, that she could remember.

Various mechanical arms and instruments stuck out of its pulsing flesh. As it rolled past the window, Rosa instinctually froze and held her breath. Logically, she knew that it couldn’t get to her, but fear had crawled up her spinal cord and settled in her chest once again. As soon as it was out of sight, she released her breath and relaxed her shoulders slightly.

“Incredible,” she muttered under her breath, her mind shooting in a million different directions. “What was that?”

She turned back to Nick who was looking at her strangely.

“We call ‘em Grievers,” he replied. “They live out there, and the only thing that keeps them out is these walls.”

“Why don’t they just come in when the gaps are open?”

“The Doors? No one has a shuck clue why. They just stay out of the Glade.”

Rosa bit her lip to ensure that she didn’t say anything else along the lines of “fascinating” or “that’s an incredible technological feat.” Nick was already suspicious of her even though she still had no clue what was going on.

“How do they work?” she asked, following Nick as he started walking away.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, I doubt anything like that can occur naturally,” said Rosa, gnawing on her bottom lip in thought. “So someone had to have created it and put it here.”

“We don’t know how they work.”

Rosa could tell that Nick didn’t want to answer any more of her questions, so she kept her mouth shut. The Grievers were fascinating to her, though. As terrifying as they were, she knew that they must have taken someone a very long time to create. Some part of her, deep down, wished that she could take one apart and learn how it worked. But she had a feeling that Nick would kill her himself if he found out that she wanted to do that.

She was drawn out of her thoughts by the same noise that had scared her off the night before. She spun around, watching the Doors open. Even though she wanted to curl up in a ball and cover her ears, she stayed still. She could feel her lungs constricting as if someone had vacuumed the air out of her chest. Once the Doors were completely open, she took a shaky breath and turned back to Nick.

“Do they always do that?” she asked quickly, hoping to avoid him asking if she was alright.

“Every morning and every night,” he confirmed.

“Always at the same time?”

He gave her another strange look.

“Yeah,” he replied. “Now stop asking questions and come get your breakfast.”

Nick led her back to the tables by the kitchen. She could see that Newt and Minho were sitting at a table with a few others.

“Go get some food, Greenie,” Nick said. “And then come join us. We have a lot of klunk to talk about.”

Rosa happily went to the small kitchen. Frypan grinned at her as she approached.

“How was your first night in the Glade, Greenbean?” he asked, grabbing a plate from a precariously-stacked pile.

“It was alright,” she shrugged, watching as he filled the plate with her breakfast.

“It’s good to hear you’re talking,” he said kindly, giving her another smile.

Rosa smiled back before remembering.

“Oh! My name is Rosalind, but I go by Rosa,” she said, almost shyly.

“Well, it’s nice to meet you, Rosa.”

He handed her a plate, and she waved as she walked towards the table that Nick had joined. She took a seat next to Minho, smiling slightly at the table full of boys. A chorus of greetings filled the air as she got settled.

“Did you show her the Grievers this morning, Nick?” Minho asked around a mouthful of food.

“Yeah,” he scoffed in reply. “And this Greenie’s got the weirdest shuckin’ questions I’ve ever heard.”

Rosa paused with her fork halfway to her mouth as she felt everyone turn towards her.

“Like what?” Newt asked, his brows furrowed.

“She wanted to know how the Grievers worked.”

Silence followed Nick’s statement. Rosa shifted uncomfortably in her seat.

“Not how dangerous they are. Not how many people they’ve killed. Not why I showed them to her. She just wanted to know how those shuckin’ _monsters_ worked.”

Nick shook his head as he finished talking.

“Well, they’re obviously dangerous,” she piped up, feeling a need to defend her line of thinking. “What’s the point of asking you that question if I already know the answer?”

She could see that hint of a smile cross Newt’s face again.

“Most Greenie’s are klunkin’ their pants after their first night,” explained Nick, shaking his head at her in exasperation. “You’re the calmest shank I’ve ever met.”

Rosa wondered if she should tell them that the constant feeling of fear never left her chest. She wondered if they would be less suspicious of her if she broke down and started sobbing like she wanted to.

_No, you need to prove to them that you aren’t scared,_ she reminded herself. _If they get the idea that you’re scared or weak, who knows what the hell these boys would do to you._

That was why she sat up straighter and made direct eye contact with Nick.

“There’s nothing wrong with crying,” she started. “But I don’t see the point in panicking if there’s nothing I can do to change my situation.”

This was, of course, a lie. Rosa was actually panicking quite a bit on the inside.

She wondered if they could see through her tough act.

“I like you, Greenie,” grinned Minho.

“What’s the plan for today?” Rosa asked Nick, hoping desperately to change the subject.

“Gotta give you the tour and then make sure you understand everything,” he replied, shoveling some food in his mouth.

“Any chance I could take a shower at some point?”

“Is that really what you’re thinking about right now?” Alby asked as he suddenly appeared behind her.

Rosa jumped, her entire body still on edge.

“Just because I’m surrounded by teenage boys doesn’t mean I have to act like one,” she responded, taking a bite out of her biscuit as she finished speaking.

“We can’t be that bad,” Newt said, sending her a friendly smile across the table.

“Well, I don’t know any of y’all yet,” she replied.

“Hey, Newt,” Minho suddenly said, nodding towards the Doors.

Newt glanced at his watch and groaned, pushing his plate away from him. Rosa watched, fascinated, as the two boys stood up almost in sync, a flash of understanding seeming to cross between them.

“Good luck today,” Nick said. “Don’t die while you’re gone.”

Minho and Newt left the table, their heads ducked together as they started speaking.

“Where are they going?” Rosa asked, her head tilting as she watched them walk away.

“Nowhere that concerns you.”

Rosa turned to glare at Alby, wishing that she knew what to say back. In an effort to keep herself out of trouble, however, she kept her mouth shut and kept eating her breakfast.

Nick took her on a tour of the Glade after they had finished eating. He showed her the Box, the fields, the Deadheads, the Med-Jack building, and the Slammer. As they passed each place, he explained the jobs that they all fulfilled. One of their last stops was by the animal pens where the Slicers worked. As soon as they were near, Bark came running to greet Rosa.

“There’s the stupid shank that finally got you to talk,” Nick grinned, shaking his head slightly as he watched her immediately start petting the dog.

“Is that the story?” a boy asked, approaching the pair as he wiped his hands on his apron.

_Is that blood?_ Rosa thought to herself, hoping she didn’t look as disgusted as she felt.

“That’s what Minho says, and Newt swears that he’s telling the truth,” replied Nick.

“Well, I’d trust Newt’s word over Minho’s,” the boy said.

He turned to Rosa, extending his previously bloody hand.

“My name’s Dave.”

“I’m Rosa,” she said, hesitantly shaking his hand.

He laughed at the expression on her face and drew his hand back.

“Dave here is one of our Slicers,” said Nick.

“You ready for your party tonight?”

“My what?” she asked, turning her head towards Nick.

“We usually have a bonfire for our Greenies after they get here,” he explained. “So we’re setting up for yours right now.”

“Oh,” replied Rosa, her head swimming with thoughts.

She barely knew these guys - hell, she didn’t even trust them enough to let her guard down – and they wanted her to enjoy a _party?_ What happened to their jokes about the other Greenies who couldn’t even stop crying by the end of the first week? She supposed that this was just going to be another thing that she had to pretend to be okay with.

Nick led her away from the Blood House and Dave, failing to comment on the way that Bark immediately glued himself to her side. As they walked, he explained to her that she would spend the next two weeks trying out every job in the Glade until she was picked for one of them. Her mind raced to each job, trying to figure out which one seemed the most natural. None of them stuck out to her in particular, but she could guarantee that she didn’t want to be a Slicer.

They stopped outside of the Homestead, and Nick turned to her seriously.

“Now, I need you to listen closely to what I’m about to tell ya, alright Greenie?”

Rosa nodded, apprehension gripping her chest.

“Outside of those walls? That’s the Maze. We’ve been here a little under a year, and we’ve never found a way out. Our whole purpose here is to escape. We don’t know who put us here or why. Every month, we get a new Greenie, and every single one of ya has your memory wiped. All that we get to keep from our previous lives is our name.”

Rosa’s chest was still tight. For some reason, that tightness refused to leave her. But now her head was spinning with all of the new information. Her hand instinctually slipped to Bark’s head, his soft fur bringing her some level of comfort.

“Since we’re all stuck in this shuck Glade, we have three rules that you have to follow at all times. First up, never go outside of the Glade. We don’t wanna lose more people than we have to to the Grievers. Number two, never hurt another Glader. We’re all that we have in this shuckin’ nightmare, so we have to trust each other. And lastly, everyone has to do their part. The only way that our lives work is because everyone contributes. And as soon as you start to forget that, that’s when we start to have problems. As long as you remember those rules, you’ll be just fine here.”

Rosa nodded.

A grin broke out across Nick’s face.

“Now, d’ya want that shower?”

Nick stood outside of the showers while Rosa was inside. Finally getting to shower was one of the most incredible feelings that Rosa had experienced in a while – or, at least, for as long as she could remember. As the dirt and sweat slipped off of her body, she took the time to breathe. Even though the water wasn’t as hot as she would have liked, it was still warmer than she expected. The showers smelled like wood and sawdust, and even the shampoo had a masculine scent.

_Makes sense,_ she thought.

“Hurry up, Greenie!”

Rosa rolled her eyes at Nick even though he couldn’t see her. Reluctantly, she turned off the water and grabbed her towel. She had taken some of her new clothes out of the box in her room, and she was ready to have something clean to wear. She pulled on a white long-sleeved shirt and some loose black pants. As she used her towel to dry her hair, she opened the door to find Nick sitting on the ground outside.

“Finally,” he said sarcastically. “Any other shank would have taken half of the time that you did.”

“Like I said before,” she retorted, “just because I’m surrounded by teenage boys doesn’t mean that I have to act like one. Besides, I have no idea how long it’s been since I was clean.”

Nick rolled his eyes good naturedly and took her to dinner. It was a quiet affair for Rosa. She tuned out the conversations around her and focused on her own thoughts. The boys all seemed to get along fairly well despite their circumstances. None of them seemed to be particularly threatening, and most of them were content with offering her friendly smiles from across the Glade. She had a bad feeling, however, that that might not last when she was no longer under the close supervision of their leaders.

Fortunately for Rosa, it was easy for her to hang around the edges of the party. The boys - mostly Gally - kept themselves entertained by wrestling and drinking some kind of moonshine. Anytime Rosa stepped into the light of the fire, she could feel boys staring at her. For a moment she wished that she had someone around to keep her busy.

And her wish was answered in the form of Newt.

She hadn’t seen him all day since breakfast, but he appeared behind her, holding a jar of moonshine and grinning at her.

“Not enjoying your party?” he asked.

“I’m not a big fan of being stared at all night, so no.”

“Is anyone bothering you?”

Newt’s eyebrows furrowed as he immediately began scanning the boys around them. Rosa felt a smile tug at the corners of her lips. She had a feeling that, despite not being the leader, Newt was the one who cared for everyone in the Glade.

“Nah, I’m fine,” she replied, forcing herself to straighten her spine. “But I could use a distraction.”

He gestured for her to take a seat, so she sat down and leaned against a nearby log. He plopped down next to her and stretched his legs out. He seemed so comfortable with the Glade that Rosa was almost jealous of him for a moment.

_Maybe one day I’ll be this comfortable too._

It seemed unlikely in that moment.

“Where were you all day?” she finally asked.

“A few of us – really only the older ones – volunteer to explore the Maze during the day,” he explained. “It’s a buggin’ nightmare, but someone has to do it.”

“Do you know how the Grievers work?”

The question was out of her mouth before she could realize what she was doing.

“No one does. We just live with ‘em.”

He turned his head and looked at her curiously.

“You’re the only shank who’s ever asked questions like that,” he said. “What are you so bloody curious for?”

“I don’t know,” she replied honestly. “I just know that I wanna understand how everything works.”

He scoffed, almost in disbelief.

“That bloody brain of yours will get you in trouble someday.”

Inexplicably, that phrase sounded _so_ familiar to Rosa. She turned her head sharply, eyes taking in the image of the teenage boy sitting next to her. The firelight rippled across his unfairly perfect side profile. He looked so relaxed and, somehow, so familiar to her.

But as soon as that feeling hit her, it was gone.

“Yeah, I guess it will,” she responded uneasily, shifting against the log to get more comfortable.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like I wrote this chapter in a fever dream, so I hope that it's at least halfway decent. Also, I wanted to clarify that this story takes place really early in the Maze Trials. It seemed like they had a pretty solid system in the book, but that was after almost two years. I feel like at this point in the story, they don't have everything set in stone yet. That's why things will be a bit disjointed.


	3. Chapter Three

Adjusting to life in the Glade was easier than Rosa thought it would be, or maybe she was just waiting for the other shoe to drop. The days were as normal as they could get inside a maze. As Nick had said, she was testing out all of the jobs in the Glade to see what she was best at. So far, she had done well at most of the jobs.

Well, except for the Slicers.

Her day had started out fine since she was taking care of the animals. She collected the eggs from the chickens and fed the pigs. She made friends with the goats and chatted with a few of the Slicers. Most importantly, Bark had been her constant shadow ever since she had arrived. He followed her everywhere and made it his personal job to remain under her feet at all times. Surprisingly, his name seemed to be a joke because he hardly ever made noise.

Then Winston had asked her to help slaughter a pig for dinner.

Rosa was no stranger to blood, and she hardly shied away from violence, as far as she knew. One look at the pig, however, and she thought about turning vegetarian. Her mind instantly flashed to the pig that she had ridden up with, and she recalled how she had felt even more sorry for the pig than herself.

_You’re a special kind of messed up,_ she reminded herself. _No one should be feeling sorry for a pig when they’re stuck in a goddamn maze with no way out._

And yet, she couldn’t stand the sight of Dave killing the pig. As he struck it in the back of the head, she instinctively turned her head to stare down at Bark. Somehow, looking into the dog’s dark eyes almost made the situation _worse._ When she looked back up, Dave was smiling at her sympathetically while Winston, the Keeper, tried to cover up his laughter.

“You could always go milk the goats,” he offered kindly.

Rosa shook her head and took a deep breath. She still felt like she had to prove herself to these boys, and running away from a dead pig didn’t seem like the best way to earn their respect.

“What can I do to help?”

She tried to ignore the admiration that flickered through his eyes at her words.

She also tried to ignore the teasing that she received that night at dinner.

Even though Dave had told Nick and Alby that she had done “surprisingly well” as a Slicer, Winston had wasted no time in telling everyone that she had flinched away. Luckily, most of the other Gladers seemed to sympathize with her issue. Newt, who was sitting to her left, had grinned at her.

“Seems to me like you get along a little too well with those bloody creatures.”

“Guess I’m just too much of an animal lover,” she had replied, glancing down at Bark, whose head was lying in her lap, waiting for table scraps.

The other jobs had been much better. Nick insisted that Greenies always found a job that stuck, and she hoped that that would be true. She may not have been the best Builder, but spending the day with them proved that she was stronger than she would have previously assumed. She still had no memories of her past, but her strength and agility proved that she must have done _something_ to stay in shape before coming up in the Box. It made her wonder if they had undergone some kind of training before arriving.

Gally didn’t approve of her much, and some of the Builders were prone to staring at her while she worked. More than once, she had felt eyes on her and had to glare at the offender until they backed off. None of the boys had done anything to her yet, but she knew better than to let her guard down. They had taken the liberty of talking about her as if she wasn’t there, which wasn’t her favorite thing.

Most of the boys had been nice to her. In the back of her mind, though, she was prepared to defend herself at a moment’s notice.

No one knew about the knife that was ever-present in her boot.

Working with Clint as a Med-Jack had been one of her favorite jobs. The two had hit it off immediately, and Clint had showed her everything that he knew. Rosa knew that she must have had some kind of previous knowledge of science because it all came to her so easily. Unfortunately for Clint, she had a lot of questions that he couldn’t really answer. Just like with the Grievers, she had wanted to know how everything worked and what each thing did. She knew that she would be happy with being a Med-Jack if that ended up being her job, especially since it was only the second thing in the Glade that had struck her with familiarity.

Her other favorite had been working in the fields with the Track-Hoes. Running her fingers through the dirt had been calming, and the monotonous work had been broken up by jokes and conversations with the other boys. It made her wonder if she had been the type of child who had dug in the dirt and played with earthworms. The thought made her smile.

It wasn’t until a conversation at dinner that Rosa discovered something that fascinated her even more than medicine and earthworms.

“So what do y’all really do all day?” she asked, glancing between Minho and Newt.

She remembered that Newt had mentioned only briefly that they explored the Maze, but she wanted to know what that kind of job really entailed.

“Run,” Minho replied shortly, stuffing his sandwich in his mouth.

Rosa rolled her eyes and turned to Newt.

“He’s not wrong. We run through the Maze all buggin’ day, tryin’ to map everything and find a way out.”

That caught her attention.

“So you’re trying to solve the Maze?”

“Of course we’re tryin’ to solve the bloody Maze,” Newt scoffed. “We might have got ourselves a system figured out, but that doesn’t mean we want to live here forever.”

“Do I get to try it out?” Rosa tried to sound less curious than she actually felt.

Minho turned to stare at her, narrowing his eyes at her question.

“Why would a Greenie want the worst job in the entire shuckin’ Glade?” he asked.

“Because-“

“It’s not easy,” Newt interjected. “We don’t exactly enjoy being surrounded by the buggin’ Grievers all day.”

“Well-“

“Plus, it’s kinda hard to run all day long.” Minho smirked a little before his next comment. “Unless you’re in peak physical condition like me.”

“I just-“

“Why would you wanna be a Runner anyways?”

“Would you let me finish?” she finally said, glaring at the two boys.

Newt, at least, had the decency to duck his head, his face lightly tinged with pink.

“I want to understand how the Maze works, just like everyone else here,” she said. “If I’m going to be living here for however long, I want to be doing my part to get us the hell out of here.”

“Everyone does their part ‘round here, Greenie,” Newt said almost sympathetically.

“What are the parameters for being a Runner?” she asked abruptly, her tongue moving faster than her brain.

“Usually only the oldest Gladers are even considered. We don’t want any kids running around in the Maze.”

Rosa decided not to correct Minho and remind him that they were _all_ kids.

“Well, I’m about the same age as you two. What else?”

Newt and Minho exchanged glances.

“You’d have to be pretty bloody fast,” said Newt. “And smart.”

“Are you saying that I’m not either of those things?”

“Oh, bloody hell, Greenie.” Newt shook his head in exasperation. “No one’s sayin’ that you’re not smart enough to be a Runner.”

“It’s the most dangerous job here,” Minho tried to explain. “No one _wants_ to be a Runner.”

“Don’t tell me the she-bean wants to be a Runner,” came Alby’s voice from behind her.

“What’s wrong with that?”

Nick slid into the seat next to her while Alby sat down next to Minho.

“No offense, Greenie,” said Nick, trying to talk around his mouthful of food, “but you still sleep with a box in front of your door in case anyone tries to break in.”

“Well, maybe I’m more worried about what a bunch of teenage boys will do to me than those damn Grievers!”

The words burst from her mouth before she could even think about what she was saying. The four boys all froze at her outburst, staring at her. She could feel the tears prickling in her eyes at their attention.

The worst part was that she hadn’t been lying.

_Serves them right to hear the truth,_ she thought to herself.

“Look, at least if I’m in the Maze, I’m not gonna be surrounded by a bunch of hormonal teenage boys all day,” she said, internally cursing herself as the tears threatened to slip down her cheek. “At least the Grievers won’t look at me like I’m a piece of meat that the Creators sent up here for _your_ enjoyment.”

She watched as they all glanced at each other, still silent. Bark gently nudged her hand, giving her an idea. She stood up abruptly.

“Bark is going to start sleeping in my room,” she said, glancing down at the dog. “I’m going to bed now.”

Rosa spun around on her heel and started walking away.

“You can’t just start giving orders-“

“Just let her go, Alby,” Minho said. “She’s not gonna listen to you. Besides, she has a point.”

“You’re agreeing with that shank?”

Rosa could barely hear the reply as she stalked away. Bark stuck to her side loyally, his tongue hanging out of his mouth as he followed her into the Homestead. She led him up to her room and shut the door behind them.

“Can’t believe I hadn’t thought of this before,” she admitted, collapsing onto her bed.

Bark ignored her. He walked around her room, sniffing at everything he could find in his new environment.

The tightness that was ever present in her chest was still pulling at her lungs. Rosa hugged her shins, resting her head on top of her knees and attempting to steady her breathing. She knew that everything she had told them was true even if her outburst had been unwarranted. In some strange and twisted way, she would feel much more comfortable if she was running around with Grievers than if she was stuck in here all day, fearing for the worst. Rosa was smart enough to know that their stares and comments would turn into something worse if she stuck around.

_“Hey, Frankie,” Justin said, helping him balance a beam of wood. “How do you feel about the Creators sending us a new toy?”_

_Rosa froze on the spot, pretending that she was enthralled by the nail that she was holding._

_“I think she’s pretty hot,” Frankie laughed, running his eyes up and down her body. “Hopefully she’ll loosen up soon because I’m not sure how much longer I can wait.”_

_“Yeah, that would-“_

_“Hey, get back to work, you shanks,” Gally yelled._

_For the first time in her life, she felt grateful that Gally was around._

_Rosa took a deep breath and started hammering again, imagining each time that the nail was Frankie and Justin._

She groaned, running her hands through her hair in aggravation. She hadn’t mentioned the incident to anyone because she knew that they wouldn’t understand. Besides, how did she know who else thought of her that way? _Any_ of the boys presented a threat to her which is why she would feel better if she was away from all of them.

A knock on her door startled her out of her thoughts. She quickly wiped the remaining tears away and opened the door, glancing back to make sure that Bark was watching.

Newt was standing at her door, looking extremely uncomfortable. His eyes raked over her face, and she knew that he could see that she had been crying. Mercifully, he ignored it.

“Can I come in?” he asked.

She smiled slightly and opened the door wider, gesturing for him to come in. He had been the nicest to her ever since she came up in the Box, but she was still hesitant to trust him. Bark greeted him enthusiastically, making her smile just a bit more genuine.

“Minho and I tried talkin’ them into it.”

“Really?”

Rosa was, admittedly, quite surprised. Just before Nick and Alby had shown up at the table, the two Runners had been trying their hardest to convince her not to join them.

“Yeah, of course,” Newt said, shrugging. “You brought up some good points.”

“Like?”

“You’re the same age as us, and you’ve got the build to be a Runner. A bloody good one too, I reckon. And like you said, it might be safer for you to spend your days in the Maze.”

Rosa tilted her head, trying to understand what had changed his mind.

“Honestly,” Newt looked a bit embarrassed, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand, “if you weren’t, well, a girl, we probably would have recruited you as a Runner from the beginning.”

He kept his eyes steadily trained on Bark, refusing to look at her. For some reason, the fact that he had admitted that made her like him a bit more.

“So did you convince them?”

“Sorta,” he sighed. “They agreed to have a Gathering. If you get enough votes, you get to be a Runner. If not, then I guess we’ll just have to find another job for you.”

“Not the Slicers,” she replied, a little too quickly.

He looked at her in amusement as she dropped down onto her sleeping bag. Bark immediately came to her, trying to drag her attention away from the boy.

“Maybe we should just let ya try and tame the Grievers,” Newt smiled, sitting down next to her. “If anyone could do it, it would probably be you.”

Rosa noticed that he left a respectful amount of distance between them. The tightness in her chest eased a little.

“I don’t think that they would make very good pets. Too slimy.”

“Good that. I wouldn’t want those bloody creatures roamin’ around the Glade anyways.”

Rosa smiled over at Newt, once again noticing how _goddamn familiar_ it was to sit and joke around with the blonde. Even his accent was familiar to her, which was strange since it was so different from her own. She briefly wondered what the chances were that only one British boy would be sent into the Glade.

_Maybe they were really far away from Europe._

“Hey, Newt,” she asked suddenly, her mind running in a million different directions. “How long have you been here?”

“About nine months,” he replied, shaking his head. “I was part of the first group sent up here. Dropped about thirty of us up here and then sent up a new Greenie every month, like clockwork.”

“How long did it take y’all to figure everything out?”

“A few months,” he admitted. “We still don’t have everything set in stone. At least now we have a pretty good idea of what to expect. Well-“

He paused and glanced over at her.

“We _thought_ we had the pattern figured out.”

“Sorry for messin’ everything up,” Rosa said, smiling sardonically.

“You didn’t mess anything up, Rosie,” he grinned. “I think it’ll be nice to finally have a buggin’ girl around this place.”

_Rosie?_

If it had been anyone else, Rosa would have protested the nickname, but it felt so natural coming from him, as if it just rolled off of his tongue. Once again, Rosa had to reflect on the strangeness of her memory loss. She couldn’t _remember_ Newt from before the Maze, but something told her that she must have known him before. She didn’t know how she knew it. To her, it just felt like an objective fact.

“How do you think our memory loss works?” she asked.

“What do you mean?”

“It feels very specific, like someone was able to cherry pick which memories we lost and which memories we got to keep. Although I suppose that that’s _exactly_ what they were able to do. I just have no idea how.”

Silence followed her statement. She glanced over at Newt to see his confusion written across his face. She laughed a little to herself before explaining.

“Well, our episodic memories – that is, our sentimental long-term memories – have been completely erased, but they let us keep other memories – like our procedural memories. I wonder if they only operated on the hippocampus or-“

Rosa ran her fingers along her skull, searching for a scar. When her search came up empty, she almost sighed in disappointment.

_That might have answered a few questions._

“Maybe they used other methods to erase our memories,” she mused, “like injections or laser tech. The detail in this kind of operation would have been incredible, but –“

Rosa shut her mouth, realizing that Newt was just staring at her with his eyebrows furrowed.

“Sorry for rambling,” she said, halfway embarrassed. “It’s just really interesting.”

“That was bloody incredible,” he replied. “How do you know all of that?”

“No idea.”

There was a beat of silence before Newt grinned at her again.

“Guess I was right, Greenie. That bloody brain of yours will get you in trouble someday.”

Rosa rolled her eyes, knowing that the boy was only teasing.

“It hasn’t gotten me in trouble yet,” she protested. “Though I guess it’s only a matter of time until it does.”

There was a brief silence as they both stared at the floor. Rosa had a feeling that she had just killed the mood.

_It’s not like it’s any secret that we’re all stuck here,_ she mused.

“Y’know Rosie, I think you’ll make a pretty good Runner.”

Rosa looked over at him, slightly surprised that he was returning to this subject again.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah,” he replied, chewing on his thumbnail as if he was deep in thought. “You’ll definitely be the smartest shank in the whole Maze.”

Rosa laughed lightly, looking down at her feet again. Bark was asleep there, his head resting on the top of her boots.

“Thanks, Newt,” she said.

He pushed himself to his feet suddenly, grinning down at her.

“Hopefully we can convince the Gathering to elect you, but until then, you should get some sleep.”

He told her goodnight, a small smile on his face, before he left, closing the door behind him. Rosa sighed and rubbed Bark’s ears gently.

“Come on, buddy,” she sighed. “You can keep me warm tonight.”

She lied down in the sleeping bag, making sure to remove her boots and slip the knife under her pillow again. Bark followed suit, situating himself at the end of her sleeping bag.

It was a bit easier to sleep that night, knowing that Bark was in there with her.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey there :)  
> So I finally decided to make use of my numerous daydreams and turn this one into a fic. I'll be basing this off of both the books and the movies (mostly the books though), so not everything will be 100% accurate to either. I'm not even sure if anyone still reads Maze Runner fics, but oh well.  
> I'm mostly using this as a way to exercise my creative writing skills and to have fun. I'm home from college right now, so I have a bit more free time than usual. That being said, I'm still a full-time college student, so updates may not be regular at any point past January.  
> A few things about this story:  
> 1\. I've loved Newt's character ever since I was in middle school and read this series for the first time. I think people are drawn to him because he's the most human character out of all of them. That's why I wanted to finally get this story out of my head. Plus, I really love the flexibility that the Maze Runner universe offers.  
> 2\. This story will deal with themes of depression, suicide, anxiety, harassment, and death. I'll put trigger warnings at the beginning of any chapters that deal with these themes explicitly. I'll also include short summaries of any possibly triggering scenes for y'all.  
> 3\. On a lighter note, I reread the first book of the series almost as soon as I came home for the holidays, and I noticed that there's a throwaway line about a black lab named Bark. Personally, I love dogs, and if I was ever in this situation, a dog would have been my very first friend. That's why I chose to feature him in this story (because I love him very much).  
> 4\. I wrote almost this entire chapter while listening to evermore (Taylor Swift's new album), so if you also love that album, we'll get along just fine :)


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